Serpent Island is a lonely, strange island in the Black Sea with a lighthouse, a Russian garrison and a telegraph on its surface, and underground passages, a time circle and the dwelling of the Serpent below.
| Type | Place (island) |
| Location | Inner Black Sea, near the mouths of the Surina |
| Inhabitant | The Serpent |
| Spanish entry | Isla de la Serpiente |
Route
It is reached after “a whole day traveling through the inner Black Sea, not far from the coast”, with the mouths of the Surina as a landmark. In the network of lighthouses it is the near one, “somewhat more limited” than the farther lighthouse of Alexandria, and so a necessary stop. The expedition there was called “almost a suicide mission”. Some companions were at its lighthouse while others waited on land.
Surface
The island is inhabited, “but mostly there is a Russian garrison” guarding the lighthouse and the telegraph; a message was sent by telegraph from there. The lighthouse is called dangerous, with mention of “volcanic adventures”.
Below
The island “has something else”: “strange underground connections that they have been exploiting”, by an unnamed party. Besides the lighthouse there is “a simultaneous circle”, a point of passage through time; there, “encapsulated time remains archaic”.
The Serpent
The Serpent, “a strange and powerful being”, lives on the island; the chronicles of the cycle treat it as a major conspiracy. A homonymous Cult of the Serpent “performs manipulations and conjurations”.
Open questions
- Whether the Cult serves the island, works from it, or only shares the name; whether the garrison knows what it guards.
- What the lighthouse is made of and its state; the garrison’s size and command.
- Where the simultaneous circle leads and who can use it.
- Whether there is a volcano.
- Whether the island’s Serpent is the conspiratorial power, the Yellow Serpent or the Bull-Serpent of the emblems, or separate entities.